PhD candidate on the project AI PRECISE

Job description

Accurate risk stratification in high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HR-NMIBC) remains challenging, leading to either undertreatment or overtreatment. Currently, personalized bladder-sparing therapies are unavailable, resulting in surgical removal of the bladder significantly impacting patients’ quality of life. While RNA-based molecular subtypes could enhance risk stratification, their clinical adoption is limited due to high costs and lengthy processing times associated with sequencing.

This PhD project aims to develop innovative artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies by integrating histopathology images and RNA sequencing data to predict molecular subtypes in bladder cancer. Ultimately, the project seeks to identify novel therapeutic targets and validate these using bladder cancer organoids. You will be the first to create comprehensive and trustworthy AI models for subtype prediction, significantly influencing clinical decisions and personalized treatment strategies.

The current project funded by NWO is a continuation of the European CLARIFY project and continues this research with a postdoc, PhD student and lab technician. You will closely collaborate with clinicians to define clinically relevant questions, digitize pathology data, and primarily focus on developing medical image analysis and AI methodologies.

The project is a collaboration with Radboud UMC, ProBCI (Dutch Bladder Cancer Infrastructure), and IKNL (Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation).

The position will start Q4 2025 and latest January 2026.

Work environment

Your research will be conducted at the Department of Urology, the Department of Pathology and Clinical Bioinformatics at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, and in collaboration with the Computational Pathology Group at Radboud UMC in Nijmegen. The Urology Department is a globally recognized center for bladder cancer research and treatment, employing advanced multi-omics and organoid methodologies. The Pathology Department excels in clinical bioinformatics, focusing on diverse cancer types and the development of AI-driven diagnostic and prognostic tools.

Both departments offer an inclusive, collaborative, and supportive atmosphere, equipped with state-of-the-art research facilities, including dedicated GPU clusters, data servers, and personal GPU-enabled workstations. You will join a multidisciplinary team of experienced researchers in imaging, machine learning, oncology, and pathology.

We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, belief, culture, place of birth or occupational impairment when recruiting and selecting staff and students. You will collaborate with a team of clinicians (urologists/pathologists), experienced researchers with backgrounds in image analysis, machine learning, pathology, surgery, and oncology.

The project is performed in collaboration with Radboud UMC, ProBCI (Dutch Bladder Cancer Infrastructure) and IKNL (Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation). Supervision for the projects will be provided by Tahlita Zuiverloon (MD PhD, associate professor), Martijn Starmans (PhD, assistant professor), Farhan Akram (PhD, assistant professor) all Erasmus MC and Geert Litjens (PhD, professor) from Radboud UMC.

Qualifications and skills

• Your are an independent, highly motivated researcher holding an MSc or MEng degree in biomedical engineering, nanobiology, medical informatics, clinical/biomedical technology, computer science, engineering, physics, mathematics or a similar domain. 
• There is a strong preference for an applicant with a biomedical background.
• Experience with medical image processing, histopathology, computer vision, machine learning, and programming (preferably Python) is highly valued.
• Effective communication with clinicians and interdisciplinary researchers is crucial, and excellent proficiency in English is required.

Before you apply please check our conditions for employment.

Terms of employment

• You will receive a temporary position for 4 years.
• The gross monthly salary is € 3.108,- in the 1st year and increases to € 3.939,- in the 4th year (scale OIO).
• Excellent fringe benefits, such as a 13th month that is already paid out in November and a individual travel expense package.
• An International Office which aids you in preparing for you arrival and stay.
• Pension insurance with ABP. We take care of approximately 2/3 of the monthly contribution.
• Special benefits, such as a incompany physiotherapist and bicycle repairer. And there is also a gym where you can work on your fitness after work.

More information

For more information about this position, please contact Tahlita Zuiverloon, e-mail: t.zuiverloon@erasmusmc.nl.

If you are excited by the thought of this position and would like to apply, please do so by using the application form on our website.

No agencies please.